Presentation to Juvenille Ageism Awareness Event February 2021

1. © 2021 Katrina Pritchard. All rights reserved.
YOUNG WORKERS AND
GENERATIONAL STEREOTYPES
Professor Katrina Pritchard
School of Management, Swansea University
k.l.pritchard@swansea.ac.uk & www.swansea.ac.uk/staff/som/busman/pritchard-k/
@ProfKPritchard & katrinapritchard.wordpress.com
@AgeatWork & ageatwork.wordpress.com

2. © 2021 Katrina Pritchard. All rights reserved.
DIFFERENT AGES
Chronological: number indicating years since birth or category with membership based
on age range, stage or cohort
Biological: related to expected life span, also prospective age, years of remaining life
expectancy
Functional: combination of biological, psychological and or cognitive markers
Subjective/Psycho-social: subjective: self perception; psycho-social: others
Comparative: dichotomous variable (e.g. older vs. younger, baby boomers vs.
generation z)

3. © 2021 Katrina Pritchard. All rights reserved. Image used under creative commons license
‘Young’ and ‘old’ are constructed as distinct categories in the labour market
but there are similarities
in the means (e.g. regulatory) and measures (e.g. chronological age) of
exclusion.
Older
FOCUS ON ‘BOOKEND’ CATEGORIES
Younger

4. © 2021 Katrina Pritchard. All rights reserved.
Younger
UK:
16-18 (HSE)
Under 25
(Minimum
Wage)
18-24 (Youth
Unemploymen
t)
Older
UK:
50+ (HSE,
Unemployment
)
USA:
Over 40 (Age
Discrimination)
Image used under creative commons license
Older
FOCUS ON ‘BOOKEND’ CATEGORIES
Younger

5. © 2021 Katrina Pritchard. All rights reserved. Image used under creative commons license
Younger: small category, transitional (education-work), lessoning
dependency
Older: large category, transitional (work-retirement), increasing
dependency
Older
FOCUS ON ‘BOOKEND’ CATEGORIES
Younger

6. © 2021 Katrina Pritchard. All rights reserved.

7. © 2021 Katrina Pritchard. All rights reserved.
GENERATIONS
• Mannheim (1927/1952) and Bourdieu (1993): consider taken-for-granted
influences that cross other forms of categorisation (e.g. social and economic
status).
• Birth cohorts shaped by a shared socio-cultural environment affecting individuals’
values, attitudes, beliefs (Twenge, 2012) vs. an emotional or social affiliation with
an episodic period (‘our time’) (Rosa, 2021)
• Each individual carries cohort effects with them throughout their lives, shaping
future experiences and behaviours.

8. © 2021 Katrina Pritchard. All rights reserved.
GENERATIONS
• But cohorts are very poorly defined with limited consideration of how specific
socio-cultural events impact these groups
• And often invoked as a proxy for age or a demographic category (younger and
older) conflating different conceptions of age (e.g. Boomer for old and Gen Z for
young)
• And evidence for significant and lasting difference is hotly debated

9. © 2021 Katrina Pritchard. All rights reserved.
GENERATIONS
‘the preponderance of the evidence paints a very consistent picture of
increased individualism and the traits related to it (materialism,
narcissism, self-esteem, lack of trust)’
(Twenge and Campbell, 2010, p.86 on Generation Y/ Millenials ),
VS.
‘behavior is more likely to be affected as a result of maturation, life
stage, the economy, or other environmental factors than it is some
fundamental shift in generational attitudes’
Deal et al (2010, p. 197)

10. © 2021 Katrina Pritchard. All rights reserved.
stereotype
prejudice
discrimination
CATEGORISATIONS & GENERALISATIONS
ATTITUDES & JUDGEMENTS
DIRECT, INDIRECT & ASSOCIATIVE BEHAVIOURS
INDIVIDUAL
INSTITUTIONAL

11. © 2021 Katrina Pritchard. All rights reserved. Image used under creative commons license
• Understand and combat stereotypes (age and generation)
• Focus on the varieties of experience (intersectionality)
• Address the unhelpful framing of age as a competition
• Examine the impact of Covid-19 across age groups
Older
FUTURE RESEARCH
Younger